UFL 2024 Week 10 TV Ratings on ESPN/FOX/ABC
UFL games have averaged 816k viewers across FOX, ABC and ESPN through nine weeks of play. The league is coming off a strong showing, averaging 919k viewers on ABC and FOX in Week 9. The UFL's overall broadcast network average this season has been 916k, comparing favorably to other spring sports on broadcast networks like regular-season NHL (934k), WNBA (811k) and English Premier League (864k).
With momentum building toward the UFL playoffs, how did the league fare in the final weekend of its regular season?
2024 UFL Week 10 TV Ratings (Average Viewership)
Saturday, June 1
- Michigan Panthers at Birmingham Stallions, 2 pm ET (ESPN): 753k (The game was the fifth-highest rated cable telecast in the 18-49 demographic)
- San Antonio Brahmas at St. Louis Battlehawks, 4 pm ET (FOX): 836k
- Saturday's FOX UFL game is up 31% vs. last year’s equivalent Week 10 USFL average of 637k viewers for Birmingham and Memphis last year.
- Telecast peaked with 1,674,000 viewers from 7-7:14 pm.
Sunday, June 2
- Arlington Renegades at D.C. Defenders, noon ET (ABC): 893k
- Houston Roughnecks at Memphis Showboats, 7 pm ET (FOX): 649k
- Telecast peaked with 1,147,000 viewers from 10-10:14pm.
Analysis:
The four UFL windows on FOX, ABC and ESPN averaged 784k viewers in Week 10. That number is down from last week, but still ahead of last year's pace for the USFL and XFL.
- The UFL Week 10 average is up 56% over last year’s respective Week 10 average for the USFL and XFL of 503k viewers.
Week 10 saw an overlap in the UFL's Saturday games when ESPN shifted the Panthers-Stallions game to 2 pm ET on ESPN to accommodate the WNBA, which aired Indiana versus Chicago at noon in a buzz-worthy game involving rookie Caitlin Clark. The WNBA lead-in on ESPN averaged an astounding 1.5 million viewers at noon.
As a result of ESPN's rescheduling, the Michigan-Birmingham telecast went up against St. Louis-San Antonio on FOX for an hour from 4 to 5 pm ET. The Stallions contest did 753k overall.
Both Saturday UFL games had something at stake in theory: the #1 seed in the USFL and home-field advantage in the XFL.
Sunday's UFL slate didn't have nearly the cache Saturday did, but it produced one of the league's most exciting games of the season with Arlington winning a 32-31 shootout over D.C.
The stand-alone Sunday night spot on FOX was a premium one but featured a less-than-stellar matchup between one-win teams. The Houston-Memphis contest had the stakes of a first-overall pick in every round of the UFL's 2025 draft. The game drew only 649k viewers. One has to wonder how much better the league would have performed had they showcased St Louis vs San Antonio or Birmingham's game instead.
All in all, it was a successful regular-season ratings performance for the merged USFL/XFL in 2024. With the two entities no longer competing against one another, and the enhanced number of games on boradcast television, the overall viewership numbers predictably spiked from 2023's offerings.
The moment of truth has arrived for the new UFL. The league's two conference championships this weekend and the UFL title game the following Sunday will generate interest from its loyal fan base, but a recurring theme and question remains: can the UFL entice new viewers to sample and fall in love with the product as others have?
2024 UFL Playoff Broadcast Schedule
Conference Championships
Saturday, June 8
- USFL Conference Championship, Michigan Panthers (7-3) at Birmingham Stallions (9-1), 3 pm ET, (ABC)
Sunday, June 9
- XFL Conference Championship, San Antonio Brahmas (7-3) at St. Louis Battlehawks (7-3), 7 p.m. (FOX)
You can find Mike Mitchell on X @ByMikeMitchell.
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MIKE MITCHELL